The Northern Colorado men’s and women’s basketball teams, coming off different results Thursday, return to action Saturday afternoon with Big Sky Conference games against Montana.
The UNC men host the Grizzlies at 2 p.m. at Bank of Colorado Arena in a key Big Sky game. The UNC women play in Missoula with a 2 p.m. tip off at Dahlberg Arena/Robin Selvig Court.
The UNC men are 7-3 and in second place in the Big Sky standings heading into Saturday. Montana is in third place at 7-4 and 16-8 overall. Eastern Washington continues to lead the conference standings with a 9-1 record heading into Saturday.
The Bears are going for a season sweep of the Grizzlies. UNC beat Montana 98-92 in overtime Jan. 11 in Missoula.
The UNC women are 5-5 in the Big Sky and 10-11 overall. The Montana women have a 7-4 record and are 15-7 overall. The Grizzlies are in fourth place in the conference. UNC defeated Montana 67-57 Jan. 11 in Greeley.
Both UNC teams began their weekend schedules Thursday with games against Montana State.
The men pulled out a late-game win, 73-70 over the Bobcats at Bank of Colorado Arena to earn a season split of the teams’ two games.
First-year junior guard Dejour Reaves was the man of the evening against Montana State, helping the Bears hold on to second place in the Big Sky with the win.
Reaves scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half, and was all over the floor as the Bears won for the ninth time in 11 games at home.
The UNC women continued a recent stretch of struggles this season with the 61-40 loss Thursday at Montana State.
The point total was a season low for the Bears, who shot 32.5% from the floor. Guard Seneca Hackley led UNC with 10 points.
The loss was UNC’s fourth in five games dating to late January. Eastern Washington beat the Bears 68-62 Jan. 25 and snapping a five-game winning streak. UNC went into the EWU game with a 4-1 Big Sky record and near the top of the conference standings.
The Bears are sixth in the conference after the Montana State loss.
Northern Arizona leads the Big Sky at 9-1, followed by Eastern Washington (8-2), Montana State (8-3), Montana (7-4) and Idaho State (6-5).
After Saturday’s games against Montana, both UNC basketball teams will have seven conference games remaining in the regular season.
The Big Sky basketball championships are March 9-13 in Boise, Idaho.
